Help needed planning an 8' 240g tank

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Unfortunately (but also fortunately) I'm having to upgrade my existing tank early. I will be moving to a ~8'x2'x2' ~240g tank hopefully by the end of January. I've never had a tank remotely this big and I'm pretty intimidated if we're being honest. This tank will be a semi in-wall (in a closet) where I will not have access to the back and limited access to the sides (but we will design the stand with an open frame so spills can be cleaned from the bottom). I'm still moving through the implications of this but so far I think this shouldn't be an issue. If you think this is a terrible idea let me know because I can always put the tank outside of the closet -- at the expense of space in the small room. Regardless of where the tank goes the equipment below still needs to be figured out.

I don't have a good idea of the equipment I'll need to run this tank, but I want to start out basic and on a budget and slowly build it out vs making a bunch of big purchases at once. K.I.S.S. is the motto.... here's my plan:

Lighting
I will be building some sort of rack to mount the lights. I have 2 150W DE fixtures and 2 A360x and 2 36" T5 strips (I can buy an additional 2 so both sides of the rack have T5s). My thinking is this will be just enough for a mixed reef that leans towards LPS and SPS/Acro strictly in the upper half; I can put the MH's over the SPS islands and use the 360x's elsewhere. I currently have some LPS and just a few SPS corals so current demand is low for light. I have some powerful grow lights that I can use for refugium.

Powerheads
I have 2 MP40s. The 2 MP40's will have just enough room to operate on the left side of the tank (there is a pocket in the closet) but I will need to figure out an internal powerhead for the right side and maybe some for the back wall as well. Open to suggestions here; I don't care about controllability.

Pumps
I wanted to go with two smaller returns vs one big return for redundancy. A 240g tank at ~3-5x turnover would require roughly 1200gph of flow at minimum, before accounting for head. My thinking is go with 2 affordable 1200gph pumps for redundancy's sake.

Sump
The Trigger Triton 44 sump catches my eye. I really like the simplicity and the large area for a refugium and the integrated lids to help with moisture and evap. I *think* it will hold enough water volume to account for minor back siphoning on power loss but someone more experienced please chime in.

Skimmer
None. Yes, I want to try without first but have the ability to add one later. I tend to stock and feed relatively lightly, and I will be veeeeery slowly stocking this large tank so I feel I will have a chance to check out this idea and see if it's viable.

Rock / Sand
I should have a big enough stockpile of rock. Just need to decide if I want sand or not.

Watermaking
I will put a water station in the tub of the bathroom attached to this room. I have a 75GPD unit that I will probably need to upgrade. I have 2 40g bins so I can make up to 80g of saltwater at a time, but I should have enough space to upgrade to larger brute trash bins or the like if needed.

Plumbing
Please help me here, I have no idea what I'm doing. What size should I go with? Should I have an overflow and return on both sides with sump in middle of stand or just one and put sump at end of stand? I feel helpless here... I know I don't want a crazy plumbing setup; something simple and manageable is most important.

Any other considerations please let me know. I'm nervous about this but I've always wanted a bigger tank and I have an opportunity so I should take it!

This is where the tank will potentially go. Please excuse the condition of the room, this home has lots of opportunity The plan is for this to be my office / work area, where I spend most of my time.

 

[Kal93]

I love the dimensions! One potential concern is that you may have difficulty reaching the back of the tank since you don't have access to the back of the tank; this will depend on your arm reach. Also, it looks like you have 2 outlets on the left side of the closet. Will that be enough?

If you want a lot of flow for your SPS/LPS, I have an Icecap gyre that works great and they're pretty cheap. The programs are nice and as long as clean it every few months it produces a lot of flow.

Do you plan on having a refugium? You could always have a sandbed in there if you like the clean look of bare-bottom.

For plumbing, I would suggest a bean animal. Alternatively, you could have an Eshopps overflow which works great, but with a high-powered return pump are noisy. They do make XL ones that are very streamline; if you go this route, plumb the overflow on one side and the return on the other. My plumbing is clear plastic tubing, so only the overflow box and return valve are hardwired in. I think that most people use PVC. It's up to you.

Here's an article on the plumbing options: https://blog.marinedepot.com/education-center/charts-diagrams/durso-herbie-bean-animal-overflow

Eshopps overflow box: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/prodigy-l-low-profile-overflow-box-900-gph-eshopps.html

 

[Brett S]

My 220G 72x24x30 tank is built into the wall and the sides really aren’t accessible for me at all either. I’ve had the tank for nearly 5 years now and it really hasn’t been a problem. Additionally, while the tank is built into the wall and visible from both sides I only have access to the tank from one side. This can be a bit of a pain sometimes, especially when I’m trying to place corals on the far side (which is a problem you won’t have), but it’s really not too bad. I can still lean over the tank and access what I need to. I’ve got a pair of 30” grabbers which helps a lot as well. I really wouldn’t worry too much about not being able to access the back and sides.

Although one thing that I will suggest is that you paint or put background paper over the sides of your tank. I didn’t do that and the coralline algae has finally covered the sides, but for a while you could see through the sides to the inside of the cabinetry at certain angles.

There are a lot more pics of my tank and how I installed it in my build thread:

Large Build - My fully automated in wall 220. Visible from two rooms

I guess this will be the official introduction for myself and my tank to R2R. It won’t really be a build thread since the tank already exists, but I’ll cover some of the build in here as well. Here are a couple of pics of the tank To start with, I am definitely a tech and automation...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Thanks guys.

@Kal93 the plan is to have a large refgium with the Trigger Triton 44 sump. I agree on the bean animal setup. This will be an internal overflow (likely corner overflows) so it should be easy enough to configure. Just have to make sure not to make any bonehead errors before I install the tank because those overflows will be a tough reach once it's in place. I'm 6'3" with a decent wingspan so I think reaching back that shouldn't be too bad for me, especially if I can lay on top of the tank (it's acrylic with bracing).

@Brett S thanks for all your help. I'm perusing your build thread now. It's comforting to hear that you haven't had any issues with reaching stuff in the tank -- like you said, grabbers work wonders. This tank will have a black back and sides to hide the inside of the closet.

 

[Uncle99]

Pumps, yup, if the sumps right underneath, 2400 GPH will be enough. I like DC pumps because they are so controllable and help with tuning the overflow.

I trust your buying a tank with an overflow already installed?
For sure have a good gate valve on any overflows so we can easily tune (quiet) those tubes.

the bigger the pipe, the easier it is for the pump to push water....typically we in the 1”. 1-1/4”. 1-1/2” range.

You sound like you got a good handle on the project.

Have fun

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Correct, the tank will have two internal corner overflows configured bean animal. Planning on 1.5" pipe unless there are better options. My understanding is I only need to have gate valves on the main drains for those overflows, and the secondary and emergencies will not have gate valves.

I attached a bad render of what I'm trying to do. I'm by no means a CAD expert! I just whipped this up to get an idea. It's dimensionally accurate. The stand is just what I'd like to see, but doesn't represent the actual construction.